Starting Points And Moving On: The Flight Attendant Life Careers Editor Shares Her Flying Story

I am writing this post as I sit while waiting at an airport. When you become a flight attendant, you have to get used to this waiting thing. I wonder and hope that I will make it onto the only flight with seats available so I can get back to my base today. Flight after flight has been delayed or cancelled due to inclement weather. I am not so much thinking about the delays or the waiting. I’m thinking about the two-week notice that I handed my base manger. I am leaving my airline.

If you know me or follow my story at all you, you know that I love my regional airline. It is a bittersweet feeling quitting a job that you love. So, why did I resign if I love it? My dreams and aspirations are far greater than what this regional airline can offer me. I have outgrown this place, and it is time for me to move on. After a lot of patience with the flight attendant hiring process at mainline carriers, I received an offer from my dream carrier a few months ago. I am beginning training for that airline in exactly two weeks. The emotions that I am feeling at this very moment are more than I am able to understand or comprehend. I am on the verge of tears from sadness over what I am leaving, and yet so filled with complete excitement over this new endeavor that will allow me many more opportunities.

I am thankful for the experiences and people who I have met along the way. I have grown professionally and personally since I began flying. I know, without a doubt in my mind, I never would have been hired by this major airline without the regional experience. When I started this adventure, I was a lost twenty something college graduate without a clue as to who she was and how she fit into the big world. I had no idea that when I accepted the flight attendant position with my regional carrier that my life would be forever altered, and that alternation happened to be in the best way possible.

Fast-forward a year: I am a woman with more self confidence and independence. I am knowledgeable regarding the ins-and-outs of the airline world, a world that I have fallen in love with. This lifestyle has made me feel unsettled in many ways, but I have found a way to be at peace with it all. I now understand my place in the world, and I am 100 percent positive that I am in the right place, surrounded by the right people at this moment in my life. I am on the right path for me, and I am certain that I am continuing to take steps in the right direction. I attribute much of this “right path” to starting at a regional airline.

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Today is the launch of Theflightattendantlife.com’s Careers Section. I am so happy to be the Careers Editor and to be the one who has the chance to create content to help others find their place in the world and to find their place in the flying life. I am a people person, and I thrive on helping others, so when I receive emails asking for help from flight attendant hopefuls, it fills my heart with joy. If you are one of the individuals who has reached out to me, thank you! Helping you gives me purpose in my own life.

If I was only allowed to give you only one piece of advice it would be to pay attention to the baby airlines- the regionals. Start at a smaller airline. If you ask Kara, or Celessa about their experiences, both have great things to say about beginning at a small airline. Kara attributes much of her success in her current pursuits due to first flying for an airline that wasn’t so glamorous.

I hear many complaints about smaller airlines because of pay and schedules, but as I have stated before, this life is what you make it. You might learn more about yourself and meet some fantastic people at a small airline that will be more valuable than any dollar amount a major airline can pay you. Regardless, you must evaluate where you are at personally and decide what fits best for you. And then, go for it. Apply, work hard at preparing for the interviews, and keep a positive and hopeful attitude. You will get to where you need to be.